Election myths

The Washington Times ^ | November 18, 2004 | Masthead Editorial

[neverdem]

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The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

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Election myths

Published November 18, 2004

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As a wrap-up to Election 2004, it should be noted which election "myths" helped shape each party's strategy. Not surprisingly, the losing party held to the losing myths, and vice versa. Here are some that failed to hold up on Nov. 2:

     • Anger is a platform. Ever since the 2000 election, Democrats rallied around their mutual disdain for President Bush. The Democrats should have remembered that Republican anger at Bill Clinton didn't work, either.

    • It's the money, not the message. The myth is that the candidate who raises the most money in the year leading up to the election would surely win. Throughout 2004, the Democrats outraised Republicans by several million dollars. Yet it took only the very straightforward message of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and their measly $250,000 in initial funding, to do more damage to John Kerry than all the liberal 527s combined did to Mr. Bush.

    • High voter turnout favors Democratic candidates. The grassroots efforts of both parties to get out the vote should be applauded. More Americans participated in this election than ever before, but the idea that somehow this would favor Mr. Kerry failed to hold up. In Ohio, Mr. Kerry won more votes than any Democrat in state history; it's just that Mr. Bush got 136,000 more.

  • The legions of youth voters would tip the balance in favor of Mr. Kerry. The polls never agreed with this myth. Though the youth vote came out in record numbers, as a percentage of the electorate, their....

[Cincinatus]

Yet it took only the very straightforward message of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and their measly $250,000 in initial funding, to do more damage to John Kerry than all the liberal 527s combined did to Mr. Bush.

The Swifties also had the distinct advantage of telling the truth too.

[Enterprise]

"it's safe to assume that the American electorate is not bound by the half-baked presumptions of the political elite and their deterministic fantasies."

Point well made and half baked dimwits like Matthews, Olberman, and Rather should pay attention here.

[Enterprise]

And sometimes the truth hurts. And this time, oh how it hurt! In fact, it hurts so much, it's like Khan in Star Trek talking to Captain Kirk. And it keeps on hurting.

[swilhelm73]

High voter turnout favors Democratic candidates. The grassroots efforts of both parties to get out the vote should be applauded. More Americans participated in this election than ever before, but the idea that somehow this would favor Mr. Kerry failed to hold up. In Ohio, Mr. Kerry won more votes than any Democrat in state history; it's just that Mr. Bush got 136,000 more.

One of the primary reasons for the Rep win this time around, IMO, was the focus on GOTV efforts and other assorted "activism". I certainly got off my duff to help out!

I strongly hope that the Rep party understands the important role conservative "activists" had in winning them this election.

For as much as I disliked the Clintons, I hadn't been directly involved in campaigns since 1988. However, a candidate running on a conservative message brought many of us conservatives out to fight the good fight in a way that Bush in 92, or Dole, or even Bush in 2000 could not...

[Once-Ler]

Nice article. Thanks for posting it.

[Jack Deth]

Good points, swilhelm73:

Another would be that the Dems selected from the bottom of the absolute bottom of the Political Barrel with Kerry. The Media wrapped him in bullet-proof swaddling clothes. And the Elitists' "Little People" went to the polls. Revolted and shot Kerry and nearly all other Democrats down in flames.

Jack.

[iopscusa]

Another debunked myth, the dumb voters will believe anything said on TeeVee or by the Celebs. Gotta be a wake-up for the "elites". The message must have gotten through the smoke screen.
Thank you, Washington Times, NY Post, FR + related.

[maica]

I strongly hope that the Rep party understands the important role conservative "activists" had in winning them this election.


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They sure do, and that is why
a)Ken Mehlman is being proposed to head the RNC, and
b)why the smartmouth dems in the media are already sneering at the "Amway" model used in the the GOP GOTV.

Dems just do not understand volunteerism or belief in strong moral values.

[carumba]

Thank you Michael Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bruce Springstein, Cher etc. Celebrity endorsements really help me to decide.

[xtinct]

Swiftboat Vets backed up their message with factual historical accounts.

Kerry campaign staff backed up the Swifties by admitting that (a) Christmas in Cambodia didn't happen (b) One of Kerry's medals came from an unintentional self-inflicted wound.

Former Secretary of the Navy Lehman couldn't understand why his name was on Kerry's Silver Star with the Combat V (a designation that the Navy has never given to anyone...chuckle)

Kerry still hasn't signed that 180 form which to our many fine milatary and vets indicates that he is 'hiding something' QQ

Let the whole Kerry mess serve as a warning to other potential candidates who want to run on a lie.

In my opinion, Kerry is a traitor not a war hero.

[MEG33]

I believe that the Kerry antiwar record/swiftboat veterans campaign was a part of the moral or values vote against Kerry..People who like Bush's faith would also be repelled by Kerry's lies and treason...and it spills over into leadership and doubts about his ability to fight the War on Terror..So many things overlap.

The condescension of the left has left a lot of resentment..

[SquirrelKing]

Bump. Great stuff.

[alwaysconservative]

Great article, thanks for posting it!

[ORECON]

Moral Values was the option chosen on the exit polls. I believe character would have been a better choice, but it was not available. Bush has character and Kerry has none. Every time John Faux Kerry is given a chance, he supports the communist position. He will do or say anything to get in power to push the communist agenda. The Swifties pointed this out and were vilified by the mainstream media. Kind of makes you wonder whose side the mainstream media is on. From my viewpoint, it is definitely not the USA's side.

Long Live The Swift Boat Veterans And POWs For Truth!

[Larry381]

Thank you Michael Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bruce Springstein, Cher etc. Celebrity endorsements really help me to decide.

So true. The vile hatred & lies aimed at the president by the above morons probably helped energize the Republican base more than anyone can imagine-it was one of the main reasons I voted for the first time in 12 years.

[SunkenCiv]

Ping!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Kind of makes you wonder whose side the mainstream media is on. From my viewpoint, it is definitely not the USA's side.

Well wonder no more.....

___________________________________________________________________________

Unholy Alliance

by David Horowitz
Hardcover - (September 2004) - $27.95

In this tour de force on the most important issue of our time, David Horowitz, confronts the paradox of how so many Americans, including the leadership of the Democratic Party, could turn against the War on Terror. He finds an answer in a political Left that shares a view of America as the “Great Satan” with America’s radical Islamic enemies.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ern' for the ping. "The requested document does not exist on this server" soooo...

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Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left by David Horowitz

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[hosepipe]

I would like to know who pulled off the greatest propaganda ploy of the last ten or twenty years...

Changeing the blue states to red and the red states to blue..

What a coup.. socialism should rightly be red as was the case.. Must've been a concerted effort to do it... Changeing it back can and should be a unilateral effort.. republicans don't seem to care, but democrat mentalitys do..